


sleepless nights

by aileenwood



Series: post-endgame irondad oneshots [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Has Nightmares, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 18:01:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18783316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aileenwood/pseuds/aileenwood
Summary: “Karen, cancel call! Cancel call! Cancel– ”There it is.“What the hell is going on?”“ca– oh heeey, Mr. Stark!”“Karen, run his vitals for me,” he says without a beat of hesitation, not even bothering to ask Peter directly – he knows the kid will just try to avoid the question."Peter's vitals are currently normal and stable," Karen supplies helpfully. "However, you've been called since it is past his curfew, and the Bedtime Protocol has been activated.""Seriously?" comes Peter's offended voice from the background.





	sleepless nights

It starts like this: it’s one a.m. – he put Morgan to bed hours ago, and Pepper’s reading something on the couch in the living room; Tony plans on finishing some work in the lab and then coming back up to spend some time with her before she gets tired of waiting and goes to bed, but then his phone buzzes in his pocket. When he fishes it out and reads it's a call from Karen, his heartbeat instantly picks up; after all, it took Tony only a handful of weeks after meeting the kid to learn that when it comes to him and calls in the middle of the night, most of the time it's a wise thing to expect the worst.

 

“ _Karen, cancel call! Cancel call! Cancel–_ ”

 

There it is.

 

“What the hell is going on?”

 

“ _ca– oh heeey, Mr. Stark!_ ”

 

“Karen, run his vitals for me,” he says without a beat of hesitation, not even bothering to ask Peter directly – he knows the kid will just try to avoid the question.

 

" _Peter's vitals are currently normal and stable_ ," Karen supplies helpfully. " _However, you've been called since it is past his curfew, and the Bedtime Protocol has been activated_."

 

" _Seriously_?" comes Peter's offended voice from the background, and it becomes louder as Karen's voice drowns out. " _It's not_ that _late_ -"

 

"It's almost two in the morning, you have to be up at seven and you have a quiz tomorrow," Tony scolds, wishing the kid was able to see his glare through the phone call. "What are you doing in the suit at this hour?"

 

There's a beat of silence, but then Peter admits quietly, " _I couldn't sleep._ "

 

Tony sighs. "Are you at least at home?"

 

" _...Kinda? I'm on the roof_."

 

"You couldn't sleep for real or are you just coming back from patrol? Because I can check the footage right-"

 

" _I'm serious_!" Peter exclaims. " _It was, like, ten o'clock when I went to bed. I was exhausted, seriously. But then I- well, it took me a while to fall asleep and then when I did I had this really, um, weird dream and now I can't-_ "

 

"Pete," Tony interrupts, but gently. "Are you having nightmares?"

 

The other line goes silent for a few moments again, but Tony lets him have his time. He looks around when there's a sudden noise coming from the door, but when he turns around it's just Pepper coming in, carrying her closed book on one of her hands. He mouths _Peter_ and she instantly smiles and nods knowingly, but frowns slightly when she checks the time on her wrist watch.

 

" _Yeah_ ," Peter finally admits, and Tony hears a tiny sigh. " _It's mostly about the battle - you know. The loud noises of the explosions and - and stuff_."

 

Tony's heart clenches in sympathy - sometimes he forgets that Peter is only sixteen despite the time that has passed for him and the ones who remained after The Snap; he forgets that Peter was in the middle of that mess when the guy's _intergalactical_ army starting shooting down at them with the intention to _kill_ , and that Peter had been caught in the middle of it all and could've easily ended up among their deceased fighters even though he had _just_ came back-

 

"What's the last time you've slept properly?" he asks, quickly shaking the thoughts away before they can start spiralling. Peter is here and _alive_ , so there isn't use dwelling with the past - he only has to fix what's wrong in the present, and right now, it seems like what he needs to do is get to his kid and reassure him that everything is fine despite what his head is telling him.

 

Pepper, as always, catches up on the situation soon enough. She approaches Tony to stand right in front of him and run a gentle hand from the top of his head down to his nape. _You should go to him_ , she whispers. He nods.

 

" _Probably sometime last week?_ " Peter says, then quickly regrets, " _But it- it's getting better, I swear! There's no need to worry, I'll be fine, I'll try to go to bed now and sleep, I'm sorry Karen had to bother you when you must've been getting ready to sleep-_ "

 

"You're not fooling anyone, kiddo," Tony sighs, only half fond - the kid is a bad liar to the point of being concerning.

 

He kisses Pepper on the cheek and chastely promises to be back soon as he moves quickly around the lab; soon enough the suit is spawning for his chest to enclose his body, and he's exiting through the back door of the house and into the chilly night sky.

 

" _Mr. Stark?_ " comes Peter's quiet voice from the still connected call. " _You still there?_ "

 

"Yeah, sorry," he says, setting the course straight to Queens right away. "I'll be there soon, yeah? Hold on tight."

 

" _W-Wait, what? You're coming? You really don't need_ -"

 

"I don't want you to go through this alone, Pete, and I know you haven't been telling May," he says, but it's not an accusation. He just wants Pete to know that even if he's not ready to share with his Aunt what he went through just yet, Tony will be there to make sure he's fine until then.

 

“ _It’s just_ –” Peter starts, then interrupts himself. A few more seconds of silence, and then, “ _How long_?” he asks quietly.

 

Tony smiles a bit to himself, then quickly checks the stats on his display. “Thirteen minutes. You good until then?”

 

“ _Yeah_ ,” Peter mumbles. “ _Thank you, Mr. Stark. You_ – _you really didn’t have to_ –”

 

“Don’t mention it, kiddo,” he replies, urging the suit to move faster. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

  


.

  


Peter's indeed sitting on the roof by the time Tony arrives - the place is completely deserted and quite dirty, but the kid is sitting near the edge, arms wrapped around his legs and face resting on top of his knees. He looks up when Tony lands besides him but doesn't move, only offers him a timid smile in greeting.

 

"Hey," he says quietly.

 

"Hey yourself," Tony replies, lowering himself down to sit besides Peter with a small groan. Damn, he's really getting old. "Any progress?"

 

"I'm still exhausted," Peter shrugs, looking away. "Still kinda scared of going to sleep, though."

 

Tony sighs, taking a moment to really look at Peter; the boy has deep and dark eyebags, which definitely weren't there - or weren't as bad, at least - the last time they saw each other in person. His eyes are also a bit puffy and red - he's been crying.

 

"What are we working with here?" Tony asks, voice lowered down almost to a whisper as if to not disturb the quiet atmosphere that has been settled ever since he arrived. "You... said it was something to do with explosions?"

 

Peter nods reluctantly. "Yeah, you- you know. When they started shooting down at us," he starts, focusing on the suit's mask on his hands rather than Tony's face. "I- I had the gauntlet with me when it started and- and, um, I think most of those things were aiming at me. I thought- I w-was sure they were going to get me then."

 

"But they didn't," Tony says, wrapping a hand around Peter's shoulders - the boy is shaking under his hold. "I know it's something hard to digest. When- well, after New York, after I got through that hole and came back, I kept dreaming about it. I was pretty sure I was going to die then; I even tried calling Pepper, but she didn't pick up at that time."

 

Peter finally turns to look at him, eyes shining under the city's lights. He stays quiet, knowing that the story doesn't end there.

 

"I thought it was going to resolve itself eventually, if I kept avoiding the memories," he continues, giving Peter a pointed look. "Like you probably do right now. And you might be right - but you also might not, and it might get worse. That's what happened to me."

"What- What did you do?" Peter inquires softly.

 

"I started therapy," he says. "Believe me, that wasn't an easy decision. It took Pepper and Rhodes a really long time to convince me, because I thought that wouldn't change anything. I couldn't see how talking to a stranger would make me feel better about these- fucked up things I had gone through."

 

Peter nods, looking away again quietly. Fortunately, he looks thoughtful, and is not flinching away from the idea right away like Tony thought he would do.

 

"D-Do you think it'd work? For- for me?" he finally asks, turning around to stare at Tony with teary eyes.

 

"Oh, Pete," Tony breathes, reaching up to run through a hand through Peter's head before landing it on his shoulder again. "If you're willing to try, of course it will. Talking about it with those around you, like we're doing right now, will also make it better, but I think professional help is never too much. I can set you up with the one who helped me back then, what you say? She still helps me even now and then, when I need it."

 

Peter nods at the suggestion, almost frenetically. "P-Please," he says, raising a fist to wipe away a tear that manages to escape and run down his cheek. "If- If you're saying it helps, then I will- I will talk to May first, 'c-cause I don't know if we can-"

 

"I'll cover the expenses, kiddo," Tony reassures him. "Don't worry your Aunt about that, I'll have a chat with her. Okay?"

 

Tony knows Peter would usually complain about it, but the kid only nods which is just another indicator of how exhausted he is. He opens and closes his mouth a few times as if to say something else, but his face ends up scrunching up and he all at once breaks down in tears.

 

"Hey, hey, it's alright," Tony pulls him in for a hug as soon as he starts sobbing, the sound being muffled against his jacket. "You will get better, hm? I promise."

 

"I-I'm just s-so _tired_ ," Peter manages to say in between sobs while barely managing to breathe.

 

"I know, Pete. Trust me, I know," Tony soothes him, feeling his heart break at the sound of the kid's devastated sobs. He would do anything to take the pain away, to make Peter forget everything he's been through - the countless night he himself spent awake, trying everything to forget all that trauma, are still vivid in his memories and he would never wish something similar to the boy. "I'll help you make it better. You- you can count on me, buddy."

 

Peter keeps on sobbing but manages to nod against Tony's jacket, looping his arms around the man's torso, a silent plea for him not to let go.

 

He doesn't even need to ask - Tony isn't planning on doing so anytime soon.

  


**Author's Note:**

> hello! i hope you have enjoyed reading :-)
> 
> it's just,, after watching endgame, especially the battle scene, i think that someone as young as peter would end up with some kinda of trauma, even if tony didn't end up dying. y'all remember that scene that he was hugging the gauntlet to himself and there were explosions all around him? and then the look on his face when he was staring up at carol? he look so exhausted and lost :(
> 
> my other headcanon would be that tony sets him up with his own therapist, since she already knows quite a lot and can probably be trusted with peter's identity? that's how i see it :')
> 
> let me know if you have any headcanons relating to this, or if you have any feedback! :D


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